Legend of Great Tang’s Twin Dragons

Smiling wryly, Xu Ziling said, “Xiaojie, please forgive Zaixia’s guilt of missing the appointment first, simply because there was an important matter that required me to leave Chang’an that very same day. I only came back this evening.”

Ji Qian put one hand up to prop her fragrant cheek, while with the other hand she lazily poured a cup of tea for him. She spoke without any care, “Was it one of those secret things?”

Xu Ziling smiled calmly and said, “Xiaojie’s guess is spot on.”

Ji Qian put down the teapot. ‘Pft!’ she giggled tenderly, cast him a glance, and said, “You are quite frank. This time you made great change, not only your voice is a lot more pleasant to hear, your speech and expression are even like two different persons. Oh! I nearly forget to tell you, I remember who Yin Xiaoji is!”

“Really?” Xu Ziling asked in great delight.

Ji Qian replied in displeasure, “Am I, Ji Qian, a liar? But if you want me to tell you, there is one condition.”

Xu Ziling already knew that she would not be so tame; thereupon he smiled and said, “Xiaodi is listening with respectful attention.”

Ji Qian spoke word-by-word, “You must tell me why you want to deal with Shi Shengchun, and then it will be up to me to decide whether I want to participate. If what you say does not interest me, I won’t reveal anything about Yin Xiaoji.”

Xu Ziling cheerfully said, “That is a very reasonable request. If you have the opportunity, Xiaojie could also inquire Hou Xibai whether I can be trusted, he will give Xiaojie a definite answer.”

Pursing her lips, Ji Qian laughed softly and said, “No need to be nervous, if I do not trust you the slightest bit, tonight I would not be here, sitting and talking to you, this destined love [in opera]. I could also have my friend in the government to arrest you head-on at the Ming Tang Wo’s gate and lock you up in prison. At that time, whatever I want to know, I could personally question you via torture.”

Hearing that, Xu Ziling did not know whether he should laugh or cry, knowing that she was still resentful toward him for puncturing her beautiful dream of learning and mastering extraordinary gambling skill. Shrugging his shoulders, he said, “Returning to the topic, the one I want to deal with is not surnamed Chi, but surnamed Xiang. Xiaojie is beginning to be interested, am I right?”

Ji Qian sat her tender body up straight, the pretty pupil of her eyes flickering, she spoke softly, “Tell me first, are you Kou Zhong or Xu Ziling? I have asked Xibai many times about you, Xibai simply smiled without saying anything, but he did admit that he has life-long friendly relations with you.”

Xu Ziling understood. Because the last time he mentioned Hou Xibai’s name, Ji Qian was able to guess who he was, therefore, her attitude changed greatly. Gently leaning forward, he met her expectant eyes head-on, and then spoke softly, “I wonder if I could speak a couple of Jianghu saying first, for example, something like walking I don’t change my given name, sitting I don’t change my surname, and then I tell you that I am Xu Ziling?”

Ji Qian could not help letting out a touching silver-bell-like laughter; covering her mouth, she glared at him and said, “Don’t tease me and make me laugh! I want to be serious now!”

Xu Ziling sighed inwardly. It could be said that Chang’an was another battlefield, only this battlefield was really much more interesting than Kou Zhong’s battlefield in Cijian. Could it be that Kou Zhong was bringing trouble to himself?

Ji Qian lightly waved her lily-white hand in front of his eyes to get his attention, “What are you thinking?” she asked.

Xu Ziling calmly replied, “I am thinking about Kou Zhong. I hope that this moment he is still alive and well.”

Ji Qian blissfully looked at him and said, “Do you really regard me as your friend and are not afraid that I might harm you?”

Xu Ziling replied seriously, “I never thought that Xiaojie might harm me.”

Ji Qian leaned close to him and spoke in low voice, “Let me tell you a secret. These several nights, I have been waiting for you outside the Ming Tang Wo gate, because I knew you would come back.”

Xu Ziling sensed that something was not right.

Ji Qian laughed and said, “Your disguise as Xu Ziling is very good. If I did not know that Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling are in Cijian fighting life and death battle against Qin Wang, I would have been completely deceived by you. But now? Hee … hee …”

‘Not good!’ Xu Ziling cried inwardly. Ji Qian nimbly leaped backward to get away, the guests on the other three tables, seven men in total, pulled their weapons at the same time and rushed forward to seal him dead in the corner. Xu Ziling did not know these men at all, but looking at their faces, they looked like the pampered sons of wealthy families, Ji Qian’s admirers, whom Ji Qian recruited to be her ragtag army.

Standing ‘far behind the frontline’, immensely proud of herself, Ji Qian laughed tenderly and said, “You, this liar, who do you think you are? You dare to deceive this Guniang. If you are really Xu Ziling, show a couple of hands and let me gain first-hand knowledge of it.”

One of the young Gongzi wielding a sword roared in laughter and said, “So what if he is really Xu Ziling? Just let us, Chang’an Qi Gongzi [seven young masters of Chang’an] teach him a lesson that there is a sky outside the sky, there is a man outside the man [idiom: in the wider world there are people more talented than oneself]. How could Chang’an be a place for a random man to display shockingly bad behavior?”

Blade light suddenly flashed, two swords, from two different angles, slashed directly toward his neck and cheek, ruthless and swift; these two had quite some skills.

Xu Ziling sighed inwardly. If these some his mother’s seven young masters of Chang’an exposed his track, so that Li Yuan and the others know that he, Xu Ziling was in Chang’an, then he would suffer injustice for nothing.

※ ※ ※

A table of wine and vegetables was setup in front of the Tang Army camp, with only two seats on it, Li Shimin was sitting leisurely on the seat by the camp’s gate. Standing behind him were Yuchi Jingde, Pang Yu, Qin Shubao, and Zhangsun Wuji, a group of great generals, his trusted aides. Under the illumination of the torches of the camp, Li Shimin, with grand and heavy expression, was waiting respectfully for Kou Zhong’s good-self’s arrival.

Kou Zhong, riding alone, galloped over from the direction of the City of Cijian’s gate, straight toward the banquet table. Relaxed and effortless, he swung off the horse and let a Tang soldier, who was rushing over to take the rein, to wait upon the horse. Laughing, he said, “Shimin Xiong is indeed a trustworthy person. At first Xiaodi thought that drinking and chatting merrily was just a casual talk, but now I know that you were serious.”

Li Shimin rose up to his full height and calmly said, “We are, after all, intimate friends. Even if very soon we will have to fight life and death battle on the battlefield, whenever possible, we should come to talk about former times. Shaoshuai, please take a seat!”

The various generals behind him, none did not fix their eyes at Kou Zhong’s every movement with burning gaze, their eyes were full of hostility, yet they also implied respect.

Kou Zhong came to he seat on the other side and sat down ostentatiously. Li Shimin personally poured a cup filled to the brim for him, before sitting down and raising his cup, he said, “Our Great Tang’s army camp has a strict rule against drinking alcohol, violators are punishable by beheading, hence tonight’s banquet has to be held outside the camp. The wine is rice wine that we procured from a nearby village, brimming with local style and flavor. Let me toast Shaoshuai a cup first.”

The two raised their cups and drank together. Li Shimin turned his head around and spoke to the various generals under his command, “Go back to the camp, this King has some confidential matter I’d like to discuss with Shaoshuai.”

All the generals revealed stunned expression, yet they knew that Li Shimin’s order must be obeyed. Military orders are like mountains [idiom], helplessly they withdrew until no one remained, leaving only the two men sitting across the table outside the camp.

Kou Zhong estimated that the banquet table was about two hundred paces away from the camp gate; he spoke with astonishment, “Shimin Xiong is not afraid I might suddenly give you trouble? Although Shimin Xiong’s martial art skill is superior, but if I am willing to trade my life with yours, disregarding everything and striking Shimin Xiong forcefully, maybe before Shimin Xiong’s men came to your aid, I would be able to inflict heavy damage on Shimin Xiong.”

Li Shimin laughed aloud and said, “If Kou Zhong is such a person, I, Li Shimin, practically disdain sitting together with you and having a heart-to-heart chat. I, Li Shimin trust you absolutely; moreover, I believe that I did not misjudge you.”

Smiling wryly, Kou Zhong said, “I definitely cannot be that shameless. Ay! You, LaoGe have already harmed me disastrously, increasing the sore point between Wang Shichong and me. What else is there to say?”

Li Shimin poured another cup of wine for him, he smiled and said, “Previously, I strenuously advised Shaoshuai to no avail, this time I want to thoroughly lay out the pros and cons. Shaoshuai, please don’t laugh at me, because from the beginning to the end, we all are brothers and good friends.”

Kou Zhong raised his cup to offer a toast, he said, “This toast is for our previous brotherhood sentiments. After we drink this cup, previous brotherhood sentiments will disappear in one stroke of a pen. If I, Kou Zhong lose my life under Shimin Xiong’s hands, even becoming a ghost I can’t possibly blame Shimin Xiong; I will only blame myself for overestimating my own capabilities, for trying in vain to set myself against Shimin Xiong.”

“Good!” Li Shimin shouted, and then both sides emptied their cups again.

Setting down the wine cup, Kou Zhong spoke slyly, “What pros and cons Shimin Xiong wants to lay out thoroughly to Xiaodi? I hope it is something new. If it is some old things that I already knew, we won’t need to waste our time, we could go back earlier and have a his mother’s good sleep.”

Li Shimin leaned forward slightly, his pair of eyes flickering brightly, he fixed his eyes on Kou Zhong, smiled, and said, “I want to make a big bet against Shaoshuai.”

Kou Zhong was sweeping his eyes over to look at the camp gate’s situation; pulling his gaze back, he met Li Shimin’s sharp gaze, which seemed to be able to penetrate any secret. Caught by surprise, he asked in astonishment, “Big bet? What are we betting on?”

Li Shimin said, “Naturally we are betting on Luoyang. If I, Li Shimin, cannot capture Luoyang within half a year, from now on I, Li Shimin, will no longer mind any military and government affairs. But if I succeed, Gexia [Sire] must give up your great undertaking of contending for hegemony. I will allow you to disband Shao Shuai Army, or perhaps have the Shao Shuai Army surrender and pay allegiance to me. I, Li Shimin guarantee that I will treat well every single one of Kou Zhong’s subordinates.”

The refined light in Kou Zhong’s tiger-eyes suddenly flashing, he spoke glibly, “Half a year, if we say it’s long, it’s actually not, if we say it’s short, it’s not short either. Shimin Xiong is not afraid to spin cocoon around yourself [idiom: enmeshed in a trap of one’s own devising]?”

Li Shimin laughed and said, “If I say one year, would Shaoshuai still be willing to take this bet? Any bet, if there is no risk involved, it won’t be fun.”

Kou Zhong sighed and said, “Shimin Xiong’s guts is bigger than mine. If Xiaodi were you, LaoXiong, since victory or defeat in this Cijian has not been decided, how could you dare to say ‘big bet’, these grandiose words?”

Li Shimin looked up to the starry sky above, he spoke slowly, “Let Shimin also offer a hypothesis: if the master of Luoyang were Kou Zhong instead of Wang Shichong, I, Li Shimin definitely would not dare to lay this heavy bet.”

Staring blankly, Kou Zhong said, “Your thoroughly laying out the pros and cons is indeed different. You are not afraid that I might advise Wang Shichong to defend Cijian to the death. Because we have Luoyang as a back up, we might be able to persevere for about a year. At that time, wouldn’t Shimin Xiong have to stare blankly as the bargaining chips in your hand are losing one and all without being able to do anything?”

On the surface the two men were courteous and friendly, but they were actually opposing each other with equal harshness, neither side was yielding.

Li Shimin blurted out laughing, he said, “Isn’t Shaoshuai overestimating Wang Shichong too much? The more Shaoshuai is showing outstanding performance, the more you are incurring Wang Shichong’s jealousy. Inside and outside, the Zheng Kingdom is beset with difficulties, factional struggle and attaching importance to the high-ranking military officers of the same clan are even more unpopular. Shaoshuai can have your good wishes, it’s a pity that the fact is cold-hearted.”

Kou Zhong smiled and said, “Wang Shichong has always been a man who carries the troops and fights the battles. On the battlefield the saber comes and the arrow goes, how could he have the time to play with dirty trick?”

Li Shimin spoke indifferently, “In that case I will simply force Wang Shichong to return to Luoyang, to give him a bit more time to consider his own situation. Not concealing anything from Shaoshuai, I already ordered Huaizhou’s Zongguan Huang Junhan and valiant general Zhang Yecha at Heyang to assemble an army of thirty thousand men. If they are successful, I’ll send them to cross over Mengjin, then they could subdue and capture Huiluo. No need for Shimin to warn Shaoshuai, Huiluo and Luokou are the two big granaries supplying Luoyang with provisions. If Huiluo fell, I am afraid the supply of army provisions to Cijian will be more or less impacted!”

Immediately Kou Zhong was put in the disadvantageous position; smiling wryly, he said, “Fortunately there is still Luokou. One day Hulao still stands, Luokou can provide endless supplies from its own storehouse to Luoyang via River Luo, in order to guarantee that Luoyang will not lack provision, and to provide assistance to the Zheng Army in Cijian, while it could also buy provisions from various cities on the lower reaches of the Great River. Besides, currently Huiluo already strengthened their defense, I wonder if it is too early for Shimin Xiong to make that claim?”

Li Shimin let out a long laughter; he said, “Hulao! Ha! Hulao!”

And then his eyes looked deep into Kou Zhong’s, he smiled and said, “For Hulao, Shimin dispatched three other armies, ten thousand men each army. One army is under the command of infantry Zongguan Shi Wanbao, from Yiyang marching toward Yijue. Another army is under Liu Dewei’s command, from Taixing to the east around Henei. Henei is currently the Zheng Army’s only stronghold north of the Great River, if this garrison is lost, the northern bank of the Great River will entirely fall into my hands. Based on our Great Tang’s navy strength, would Shaoshuai still doubt if we could put the Great River under our control?”

After a short pause, he went on, “The Great River already provide me with the means to move unhindered, the last army is under Shang Gu Gong [duke of upper valley] Wang Junkuo’s command, after crossing the river and rest the troops at Luokou, they will cut the last route for providing foodstuff to Luoyang. At that time, if they want to transport the army provisions from Luokou to Luoyang, they must ask my, Li Shimin’s permission first.”

Recovering his cool-headedness, Kou Zhong spoke indifferently, “I did not expect Shimin Xiong to have such a high interest in military tactics on paper, Xiaodi will try to keep you company to the end. Shimin Xiong seems to think that capturing Yique is like having a card up your sleeve, which Xiaodi find it hard to understand. Shou’an, Yique, two cities, one is located south of River Luo, the other is west of River Yi. The two is separated by less than one-day journey by horse, they are as close as lips and teeth [idiom: interdependent]. Shou’an has the experienced and an old hand Zhang Zhenzhou as the commanding officer, as long as he dispatches an army in response, what ability does Shi Wanbao have that he would be able to capture Yique? Outside the city of Yique, there’s still Longmen Fort; moreover, if Qian Duguan of Xiangyang and Zhu Can’s allied armies go up north, Shi Wanbao will face the enemy on all sides; whether he would be able to escape back to send his regards and pay his respects to Shimin Xiong will become a question.”

Li Shimin laughed but did not answer; he said, “On this, please forgive Shimin for keeping the climax of the story; how about if I let Shaoshuai to figure it out by yourself?”

Kou Zhong drew out a mouthful of cold air, he said, “Is Shimin Xiong hinting that Zhang Zhenzhou is surrendering to you?”

He was not making a fuss about nothing at all, because if Zhang Zhenzhou surrendering turned out to be true, not only the blow to the Zheng Army’s morale would be extremely hard to measure, the consequences are even more unimaginable. First of all, if they failed to keep Yique, furthermore, if the connection to Luoyang was cut off, the Great Tang’s Army would then be able to nibble away all the cities and towns south of Luoyang like locust, and then the area north of the Great River would fall into the Tang Army’s hands. If they also lost Cijian, Luoyang would only have Hulao, one hole with which they could breathe, on the eastern front.

Changing the subject, Li Shimin said, “I wonder if Shaoshuai understands the game of Go. As far as I’m concerned, Wang Shichong and his army are one big dragon, in direct confrontation, even if I win, the injuries and deaths will be disastrous. Therefore, we have to take the strategy of hemming them in and chopping them off, blocking his every living mouth, and then restrain his breathing holes one by one, leaving him only Luoyang, one small hole. With just one small hole, how is he going to survive? Shaoshuai, please give advice.”

Smiling wryly, Kou Zhong said, “Xiaodi has never learned to play the game of Go. If he cannot live with one hole, can he live with a pair of holes? The other living mouth is precisely Hulao, which is also another living dragon’s incoming road.”

Li Shimin smiled and said, “If Shimin did not have a way to control Dou Jiande or your Shao Shuai Army, I wouldn’t have dared to come to the east; I would rather sit in Guanzhong looking at Dou Jiande and Wang Shichong butt heads until their forehead split.”

Shaken, Kou Zhong said, “My Shao Shuai Army?”

Unconcerned, Li Shimin said, “Du Fuwei already surrendered to Tang, what could Li Zitong do? Surrender to my Great Tang, perhaps being conferred the title Marquis or respected as a general, living his life in style. Although Shao Shuai Army’s vitality is thriving, the morale is high, but its wings have not grown; to defend themselves, perhaps they have enough power, but if Li Zitong took a position of going up north to attack, Shaoshuai’s Pengliang Army won’t be able to move a single step, you won’t be able to send one soldier, half a pawn to help Hulao.”

Kou Zhong’s entire scalp went numb. It was only now that he gained first hand experience on Li Shimin’s god-like art of war, his accurate calculation and planning.

Remaining calm and unruffled in the midst of chaos, Li Shimin spoke slyly, “As for Dou Jiande, on one hand, he must retain part of his military strength to suppress Gao Kaidao and Luo Yi, who are beginning to stir in the north, while he also have to cope with the challenge of another militia on the east side. This militia is under the command of Meng Haigong of Shandong, who is equally famous with Xu Yuanlang. If Dou Jiande wanted to put him in order, I am afraid he will have to spend some efforts.”

Kou Zhong was like a gambler who was gambling until the sky turned hazy, the earth turned dark, only to find that as he wanted to place his last bet, he suddenly discovered that he had lost all the gambling chips in his hands. The saddest thing was that he knew Li Shimin’s strategy perfectly well, yet he was still unable to deal with it or change it.

Taking a deep breath, he said, “What if Shimin Xiong lose this battle of Cijian?”

Laughing involuntarily, Li Shimin said, “Whatever the case, I will not lose this battle. Starting tonight, my army will resolutely stay inside the fort and won’t come out, waiting for the good news of the other four armies separately capturing Huiluo, Luokou, Henei, and Yique. If this is still not enough, Shimin could leave about ten thousand men to defend the camp, while I myself will lead the rest of my men to go down south along the Great River to personally capture northern hills and southern mountains, the Jintang City northeast of Luoyang. At that time, I want to see whether because of Cijian, Wang Shichong would pay no attention to Luoyang, and accompany Shaoshuai in here admiring the full moon and gazing upon the stars?”

Kou Zhong slapped the table and said with a sigh, “Good kid! Your granny’s bear! It’s only now that I understand about that thing called thus the highest form of generalship is to balk the enemy’s plans, I also understand why Xue Ju, father and son, and Liu Wuzhou, Song JinGang, so lost and became his mother’s muddled and completely collapsing. You, LaoGe make me have power but difficult to use it. You invited me tonight to come and drink wine, you wanted to embarrass me and make me unable to step down the stage, right?”

Li Shimin responded solemnly, “Exactly the opposite. I invited you to come to drink and have a heart-to-heart chat, it is because I, Li Shimin always consider you a brother. You, Kou Zhong, are a hero, just accept my bet. I, Li Shimin decided on the half a year period, it is precisely to pay back my debt of gratitude to you.”

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The refined light in Kou Zhong’s pair of eyes was flashing, he fixed his eyes on Li Shimin, but did not say anything.

Li Shimin spoke heavily, “Don’t raise any hope on Hulao. I already dispatched Li Shiji with full authority to be in charge of capturing Hulao. This man, whether within Li Mi’s army or among our Great Tang’s various generals – is a first-class talent. I have full confidence that he can easily take Hulao.”

Shaking his head, Kou Zhong said with a sigh, “The battle of Luoyang is too unfair for me!”

“War is just like that,” Li Shimin replied, “Jianghu has Jianghu rules, war has war’s rules, which is one is called a king if successful, called a bandit if defeated [idiom]. When you enter a village, follow the local customs [idiom], how could Shaoshuai unexpectedly spoke those words?”

Kou Zhong stood up suddenly. Looking up at the starry sky, he spoke slowly, “I, Kou Zhong, have my, Kou Zhong’s rules. From this moment on, Qin Wang need not remember old affection fondly. You should only comply with your war’s rules to treat me and my Shao Shuai Army like chopping the grass and pulling the root. If my skill is inferior to yours, I, Kou Zhong will die without regret.”

Li Shimin sighed and said, “In that case, Shaoshuai is unwilling to accept my bet; I wonder what is the reason behind it?”

Laughing heartily, Kou Zhong said, “Because more and more I feel that with an opponent like you, LaoGe, my life is not in vain.”

The last negotiation between the two men finally broke down.

1 Chapter title: idiom, fig. Theoretical discussion that is worse than useless in practice.